Byju's insolvency order: NCLAT judge recuses from hearing appeal

Cites he had appeared for the BCCI as a lawyer and, therefore, did not think it appropriate to hear the matter

A National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judge on Monday recused himself from hearing a plea seeking an interim stay on the insolvency proceedings against Think and Learn, the parent company of edtech firm Byju.

The hearing on the plea filed by Byju Raveendran, the founder of the company, was then adjourned.

While recusing himself from the hearing, Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma of NCLAT Chennai bench said he had appeared for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) several times as a lawyer and, therefore, did not think it appropriate to hear the matter, according to law platform Bar & Bench.

A recent order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had allowed the Indian cricket board’s petition for initiating insolvency proceedings against the edtech company, after which Byju’s had approached NCLAT.

“I went through the entire case papers and realised that ultimately, the beneficiary is going to be the BCCI. So, I do not want to get involved with this. I will be refusing to hear the matter. It will go to the chairperson and he will decide on the next date,” the Bar & Bench report cited Justice Sharma as saying.

After the matter was adjourned, Raveendran mentioned the matter before NCLAT Delhi, according to the Bar & Bench.

He was asked to approach the NCLAT Registry at the principal bench for the constitution of a new bench and the next date of hearing.

Raveendran’s lawyers will now write to the NCLAT Registry seeking listing of the matter on Tuesday before another bench.

Raveendran's counsel argued that his client was willing to “pay the entire amount due through Riju Raveendran (his brother)”, who is also a promoter at Think and Learn.

However, Justice Sharma said that even if Raveendran intended to argue the matter on merits, he was not inclined to hear it.

On July 16, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted Byju’s, officially known as Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) based on a petition filed by the BCCI due to unpaid dues amounting to ~158.90 crore.

Due to the NCLT's order, Raveendran lost immediate control of the company. The tribunal appointed a bankruptcy professional to oversee daily operations during the proceedings.

On July 23, Raveendran had moved NCLAT seeking an urgent hearing in the matter. Justice Sharma had questioned why Raveendran had chosen to go to the Karnataka High Court first, then withdrew the petition from there and approached NCLAT as an afterthought, according to Bar & Bench.